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Shauna Bocksch: Fond memories of winter rec program

Shauna Bocksch
Frisco

We lived on a hill just north of Breckenridge. I was 8 years old and in the third grade at Breckenridge Elementary. To make things fun (and maybe to avoid having to scrape the ice off the car) my dad built a ski trail for me and my siblings to ski down to the school bus. It was Winter Recreation League and today was a ski day! Clad in snow pants, mittens, jackets and big smiles, my brothers and I grabbed our shapeless skis with outdated Cubco bindings and embarked on our snowy journey to school.

While this was over 30 years ago, the memories of poling down the hill to the bus, skiing with our teachers and classmates during school time, and knowing even at a young age we were doing something that most other kids did not get to do have not faded. It also influenced my career path in the ski resort industry.

My own children are preschool and school aged. Sadly, with Summit School District’s decision to eliminate the Winter Recreation League, they won’t have the memories, stories, experience or the big smiles from getting to do something so unique to the High Country; it will be replaced by anxiety, pressure and stress to do well on the Colorado State Assessment Program (CSAP).



In the end, will three days of structured indoor learning make our children do better on the CSAP? Maybe. But 30 years later will this outweigh the unique opportunity the Winter Recreation League offered?


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